Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[TCM]

Look, we all know the dangers of Mary Sue NPCs and "Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies", but this thread is devoteted to all the real situations experienced RPG GM's face. This thread is devoting to sharing and aiding your fellow GMs with your own tounge-in-cheek anecdotes. I'll start.

1.  So you have that idea for a game. Well great, but for fuck's sake make sure you make it adaptable so you don't hit writer's block 6 turns in.
2. On that same note, don't try and lay out everything you think the players will do. Because when Zanglos the Cheese Demon decides to take the north gate and not the south, you'll be stuck.
3. Figure out how to deal with inactive players, especially in bigger RPGs.
4. Just because we all like Dwarf Fortess doesn't mean we'll get your obscure reference to that one book only you and George Lucas's hooker read.
5. Good mix of male and female characters? Great! A diverse party is always a good thing. Just be warned: Sexual Tension. SO MUCH SEXUAL TENSION.


Your turn! :3

[GreatWyrmGold]

6. This is Bay12. Expect insanity.
7. This is Bay12. Expect derails.
8. This is Bay12. Be aware of major developments and features in Dwarf Fortress.
9. This is Bay12. We're normal, albeit insane, people.

[Grek]

6. Decide early on if this is going to be a sandbox game where the players decide what the plot is or a railroad game where the GM decides what the plot is. Tell your players which it's going to be, and stick to it.

[rabidgam3r]

10. We are insane and depraved, no matter what Gold says.

If anyone tries to prove me wrong, read through the entire Last Night Troll thread AND TELL ME YOUR NOT SCARRED.

[borno]

11. Make sure you reward your players with phat lewtz. If you do not, expect a revolt.

[Toaster]

12.  If you give a player a seemingly completely useless and self-destructive ability, expect them to go to great lengths to turn it into something useful.

[Grek]

13. More general statement of the above: All powers, items, abilities, skills, etc. will be used in ways you did not plan for. This is normal, to be expected and what makes the genre great. It is not something to get upset about.

[IronyOwl]

14 15. Bookkeeping errors are to be expected. Figure out how to deal with them, but don't let them hold up the game.

[rabidgam3r]

15. If they do something stupid, PUNISH THEM. I practiced one on a friend, and he ate grass and i took out some health. he put it in a bottle, and it was poison. The moral is, if they do something, ROLL WITH IT.

[GreatWyrmGold]

16. Keep it simple or have players that don't mind waiting days for updates.

[weenog]

17. If an item is critical for your plans, make sure it is either replaceable or not destructible, or both.  You don't want to get stuck when a PC treats that vial of silver dragon spinal fluid as a potion of make the DM cry.

[jaass]

17 18. Any Sci-fi game expect long discussion of biology or any hard sciences that are usually 20 plus pages.

[rabidgam3r]

18. Don't. EVER. MAKE. COOKIE CUTTER RACES!

[TherosPherae]

20. Keep things simple enough to keep the players engaged, but complex enough that it's not boring.
21. Always have a wild card up your sleeve. ALWAYS.
22. Keep your players informed - try not to spontaneously drop off the planet without warning.

[Araph]

23. Your plot idea won't have as much filler as it needs. Get used to it, because that problem ain't going away.